https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=10641
Hi Friends,
Don’t forget to savor your final days with your online classes before we shift to hybrid classes in a couple weeks. You have my full permission to give “learning” a break and instead focus on community and “fun.” This is kind of like the last two weeks of school before the summer (if summer was filled with unknowns and anxiety).
Ten items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Now that Ben has shifted into a Title 1 EA posiiton, the posting for his Recess Supervision EA Position is now posted and closes Tuesday. If you know any fabulous candidates, please encourage them to apply!
• REPEAT: Class Lists, DUE WEDNESDAY – I emailed this to staff last week, but the Hybrid Class Lists 2020-21 Google Sheet (Staff Drive > MISC > Class Lists) now includes a tab called “Pathways (NEW)” which has the most current pathway choices.
Class Lists should be updated by Wednesday. Teachers will send a welcome email to their new and returning families on Friday. Hybrid teachers will send two emails, one welcoming their Cohort A families and one welcoming their Cohort B families, letting them know which cohort they are in and which days of the week they will be attending. SSO teachers will send one welcome email to their new and returning families. In your welcome email, you can share hybrid and SSO information with families if you’d like, but you can also just say to watch for the Holt Quick News each Monday for updates. That might save you from having to answer a lot of parent questions and let parents direct their questions to me instead of you.
Melanie will build the new classes in Synergy on Thursday and will email a spreadsheet with parent emails sorted by the new classes and their cohort groups, so teachers can just cut-and-paste all the email addresses into the BCC when you email families.
Three additional Class List items:
• Online Class Breakdown – I accidentally left off our 4/5 blend in the email I sent last week, but the online blend counts should be about this.
K/1(24 total) 14 Kinders and 8 First Graders
1/2 (23 total) 10 First Graders and 13 Seconds
3/4 (21 total) 15 Third Graders and 6 Fourth Graders
4/5 (20 total) 10 Fourth Graders and 10 Fifth GradersI’m open to adjusting these numbers as needed, but wanted to share how they might break down in order to keep class sizes fairly even. There are other configurations we might have considered, but given the tight timeline, the fact that the numbers don’t change all that much between alternate plans, and also not wanting to throw a curveball at SSO teachers as to what they will be teaching, I vote we just stick with this plan for the last three and a half months of the year. Linked here is the Pathway Report I shared earlier.
• REPEAT: Siblings Reminder – All siblings should be placed into Cohort A. The first tab, Siblings, tells if students have siblings or not, but if the siblings are at middle or high school, they do not have to go into Cohort A. It’s only if there are multiple elementary age siblings. Also, if a class is having trouble fitting all siblings into Cohort A, it’s okay to place those students into Cohort B if you connect with the teacher of the other sibling(s).
• Staff Input on Lists – Particularly for the in-person hybrid classes, I’d like specialists and classified staff to take a look at the lists to make sure there aren’t any bad combinations of students. If you spot something you think should be changed, contact that grade level team.
• Holt Spirt Day – Fancy Day – THIS FRIDAY! – This Friday is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Fancy Day! Make a fancy hairdo! Wear a Tiara! Sport a bow tie! Or just wear Holt colors, a Holt shirt, or a funky outfit. Get kids pumped and see the Fancy Choice Board for ideas.
• Classified Appreciation Week is Coming! – March 1-5 is Classified Appreciation Week, so licensed staff, don’t forget to show your thanks next week to the folks who assist you each day!
• March 4th Supply Distribution Sign-Up & Info – Not this week, but next week is the March Supply Distribution on Thursday, March 4th from 8:00-3:00. If you are available, please add your name to the Supply Distribution Sign-Up Sheet to help between 8:00-3:00. Staff can utilize trade time if you work beyond your normal hours this day. And this time we have Jumpathon T-Shirts and Holt Bolt Jump Ropes to pass out!
As a bonus for what might be our last major supply distribution (SSO students will still need to do periodic supply pick-ups), Kona Ice is coming to Holt from 11:00-1:00 for a fundraiser and they are again offering a FREE shave ice to all staff members!
• Math & ELA Updates – Chelsea Mabie and Eric Anderson send principals a few updates. Two highlights:
• Printed Materials – Both ELA and Math printed materials for the rest of the year will arrive by March 1st. If grade levels are not going to use the materials, do not recycle them and let me know so I can ship them back downtown for potential future use.
• ELA and Social Studies Adoption – Downtown is looking for a K-2 and 3-5 rep to join a district adoption team. Each region gets to send two reps and Chelsea has asked for nominations. Volunteers would begin meeting in June and would work over the summer (extended contract available). Reps would also pilot materials in the fall. Let me know by the end of the week if you are interested in being on this team.
• Wednesday PD/PLC Time – This Wednesday’s PD/PLC time will focus on the nuts-and-bolts of hybrid and will hopefully answer many of our questions (schedules, classroom set-up, protocols, etc.). Principals meet on Monday and I suspect we’ll get a preview of what’s going to be shared, but at this point I haven’t seen any of it. See you at 2:40 on Wednesday for ALL the answers!
• Read Across America, March 2nd – Not this week, but next week is Read Across America. This year’s theme is “Create and celebrate a nation of diverse readers.” See the above linked NEA website for loads of resources for this annual event.
• “Clean” Text Paste (Command + V + Shift + Option) – Nerd tech tip here, but when I discovered this last spring, it was life changing. Everyone knows the paste keyboard shortcut Command + V, but not as well known, though it should be, is that if you do Command + V + Shift + Option, you will paste plain text and wipe clean any formatting it might carry from its source. You’re welcome!
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
February 22 (M)
11:30, Allan to CICO Planning Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-4:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:30, This Week in Sports w/Mr. Cole (Zoom)February 23 (T)
No Dynamos Groups – Title Staff at SIPPS Training
12:30-1:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
2:00-3:00, OPTIONAL Arrival/Dismissal Planning Meeting (Zoom)
3:00-4:00, PBIS Meeting (Zoom)
6:30, “Pictionary With the Ducks!” – UO Athlete/Holt Virtual Event (Zoom)February 24 (W)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, 3rd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 4th Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:00-12:30, 5th Grade Data Team – Tier 3
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – District Hybrid Information (Zoom )February 25 (H)
2:00-3:00, IPBS CDL Meeting (Zoom)February 26 (F)
Fancy Day – SPIRIT DAY!7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
10:00, Allan (as Electra) Posing for School Mascot Vaccinations (Cal Young)
12:00-1:15, Lunch Bunch – KG 12:00, 3/4 12:20, 1/2 12:40, 5th 1:00 (Zoom)March 1 (M)
Classified Appreciation Week
3:00, Allan to Dentist AppointmentMarch 2 (T)
Read Across America
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Zoom)March 3 (W)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, KG Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 1st Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
4:30, Poetry Club w/Ms. Katharine (Zoom)March 4 (H)
8:00-3:00, School Supply Distribution (Front of School)
11:00-1:00, Kona Ice Fundraiser (Front of School)
11:00-10:00, Bo & Vine – Holt Night Out Fundraiser
2:00-3:00, IPBS CDL Meeting (Zoom)March 5 (F)
12:00-1:15, Lunch Bunch – KG 12:00, 3/4 12:20, 1/2 12:40, 5th 1:00 (Zoom)March 8 (M)
Shift to Hybrid and Same School Online Classes
Just four Mondays until spring break!
Allan
